Bringing Bach to the BlackBerry generation

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Wells Cathedral School pupils, with Suzi Digby, at a rehearsal for the Vocal Futures’ workshopTimes photographer, Jim Wileman

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A workshop at the RichMix in ShoreditchTimes photographer, Jon Enoch

Richard Morrison

Published at 12:01AM, November 19 2011

Old music, old people — no wonder teenagers don’t like classical concerts. We need a new approach to win over new fans

How do you make teenagers interested in classical music? If you trawl
Britain’s concert halls as often as I do, you will know why I ask that
question with some desperation. Unless free tickets have been foisted on a
party of schoolchildren, there’s usually nobody under the age of 20 in the
hall, and few under 40.

Of course, the best way for teenagers to discover symphonies is by playing
them. And hundreds of thousands do just that in Britain’s youth orchestras
which, if not as highly hyped as Venezuela’s El Sistema, bubble with just as
much talent and enthusiasm.